News Around the Neighborhood
PHLF: Lecture – History, Design and Architecture of Heinz Memorial Chapel
Tuesday, May 18
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Fee: $5.00
This lecture will be held via Zoom Conference. Click here to purchase a ticket and RSVP.
(You will receive an e-mail with a link to Zoom at on the day of the lecture. Don’t see the e-mail? Please be sure to check your spam or junk folders. Log in at 5:45 pm to allow us enough time to let you in to the lecture.)
The Heinz Memorial Chapel is one of the iconic landmarks on the grounds of the University of Pittsburgh campus in Oakland. It is celebrated as much for its location, beauty, and history. Constructed between 1933 and 1938, the chapel was built to honor the memory of the mother of H.J. Heinz an American entrepreneur. In this lecture, Frank Kurtik will share insights into the history, design, and architecture of the Gothic building designed by Philadelphia architect Charles Klauder.
About the presenter: Frank J. Kurtik is a long-time researcher, writer, and lecturer on the history of Western Pennsylvania. A former Research Fellow with the Heinz Family Foundation in Washington D.C., he currently works at the University of Pittsburgh where he serves on the staff of the staff Heinz Memorial Chapel, for which he is a docent and an event coordinator. Frank’s articles have appeared in many publications including the Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine, Carnegie Magazine, and Western Pennsylvania History. He has lectured on topics ranging from Western Pennsylvania iron furnaces to H. J. Heinz’s role in the Sunday School movement to Monongahela rye whiskey.
PHLF: Live Virtual Tour – Market Square and Point Park
Thursday, May 13
6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Fee: $7.50
This live virtual tour will be held via Zoom Conference. Click here to purchase a ticket and RSVP.
(You will receive an e-mail with a link to Zoom at on the day of the tour. Don’t see the e-mail? Please be sure to check your spam or junk folders. Log in at 5:45 pm to allow us enough time to let you in to the tour.)
Join Tracy Myers and Sarah Greenwald co-directors of education, on a virtual tour of the preservation efforts that helped revitalize the Market Square area and Point Park University campus over the last fifteen years. In this area where the historic architecture meets ground-up construction, we will see how a full range of preservation strategies helped to create a vibrant, dynamic Downtown core.
This tour will focus on our organization’s role in helping defeat a 1990s proposal to gut the Fifth-and-Forbes corridor and take deep dives into our ongoing efforts in and near Market Square and on Wood Street.
Letter from the President – May 2021
The sun is bright, — the air is clear,
The darting swallows soar and sing.
And from the stately elms I hear
The bluebird prophesying Spring.
So blue yon winding river flows,
It seems an outlet from the sky,
Where waiting till the west-wind blows,
The freighted clouds at anchor lie.
All things are new; — the buds, the leaves,
That gild the elm-tree’s nodding crest,
And even the nest beneath the eaves; —
There are no birds in last year’s nest!
All things rejoice in youth and love,
The fullness of their first delight!
And learn from the soft heavens above
The melting tenderness of night.
Maiden, that read’st this simple rhyme,
Enjoy thy youth, it will not stay;
Enjoy the fragrance of thy prime,
For oh, it is not always May!
Enjoy the Spring of Love and Youth,
To some good angel leave the rest;
For Time will teach thee soon the truth,
There are no birds in last year’s nest
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Ballads and Other Poems (1842)
No hay pájaros en los nidos de antaño.
Spanish proverb
Ah, the lusty month of May, when a young person’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of voting.
Tuesday, May 18, is Election Day in Pennsylvania. It’s a primary, which normally means just choosing the various parties’ candidates for the November general election. And, there are in fact, many of those choices on the ballot. There are races for Pittsburgh mayor and Allegheny county sheriff, as well as the ever-perplexing races for judge. There may be additional races in your voting district.
However, there are also several important questions on the ballot for all voters, not just party members:
- Three (count ’em) proposed amendments to Pennsylvania’s constitution
- A state-wide referendum on emergency medical services companies
- An Allegheny County ordinance referendum on standards for the county jail
- A proposed Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter amendment on no-knock warrants
So, even independent voters have good reasons to go to the polls this month.
You can find sample ballots, your voter registration status, a polling place locator, and more at the following county website: www.alleghenycounty.us/elections/index.aspx. It’s also not too late to request a mail-in ballot (assuming you receive this by May 11).
You can find information on the candidates by checking the spam folder in your email program. Better yet, go to the following website, run by the venerable League of Women Voters, which has been helping voters make informed choices for over 100 years: www.vote411.org.
Well, that’s about all I have for May. Remember that we will have an informational AWCC Membership Meeting on Tuesday, May 11. Come for the information, stay for the virtual refreshments provided by our sergeant-at-arms, Colleen Storm. We’ll be sending the Zoom link for the meeting in an upcoming eNewsletter. I hope to see you then.
Bob Griewahn
President, AWCC
AWCC Informational Meeting – May 11, 2021
Via Zoom (details)
Tuesday, May 11 at 7:30 pm
- 7:30 – Gather, Say Hello, Meet New Neighbors
- 7:35 – Update: City of Pittsburgh Zone 1 Police (Officer Burford)
- 7:40 – Update: City of Pittsburgh, Mayor’s Office (Leah Friedman)
- 7:45 – Update: Councilman Wilson’s Office (sdfMohammed Burny/Faith Mudd)
- 7:50 – Update: Representative Wheatley’s Office (Thomas Graham)
- 7:55 – Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (Erin Tobin)
- 8:00 – Treasurer’s Report (Aaron Bryan)
- 8:05 – Executive Committee Reports
- Future In-Person Meetings
- “Pours and Plates” Possible Autumn Event
- Neighbor-of-the-Year Nominations
- 8:25 – Conclude
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone
Heather McGhee
In conversation with William Generett Jr., board member for The Pittsburgh Foundation and Senior Vice President of Civic Engagement at Duquesne University.
Presented in partnership with The Pittsburgh Foundation.
Tuesday, May 4, 2021
Virtual Passes are $10
Virtual Event, watch anytime online for one month
Closed captioning will be available. Only one virtual pass needed per household.
Join Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh for a community book discussion on The Sum of Us on Wednesday, May 19th. Everyone who signs up for the discussion will be offered a free virtual pass and a copy of The Sum of Us.
This offer is available from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh for those living and working in Allegheny County. Availability is limited.
Allegheny Circle Two Way Conversion Project Begins Monday
The City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) is excited to announce that construction will begin for Phase 2 of the Allegheny Circle Two-Way Conversion Project on April 19, 2021. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
“Allegheny Circle” consists of four streets (North, East, South, and West Commons) in the Allegheny Center neighborhood that functioned for years as a 4-lane one-way ring road. Phase 1 of the project, completed in 2018, reduced the travel lanes from 4 to 2 and added a bi-directional cycle track on the inside of the circle and parking on the outside. Phase 2 of the project will finish the transformation of the circle from a vehicle-centric street to a neighborhood-scale, multi-modal, pedestrian friendly street.
The project will convert the street to two-way operations for vehicles, with one lane of traffic in each direction. The cycle track will be upgraded, and bicycle facilities will be extended to connect with existing facilities. The project will include upgrades to traffic signals, intersection modifications to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists, upgraded curb ramps, new pavement markings and signage, and other miscellaneous construction.
Construction will generally occur during the week, Monday through Friday, during daylight hours. One lane of traffic along N, S, E, and W Commons will be maintained throughout the construction project. Detours will be implemented over the course of the project for East Ohio Street, North and South Federal Street, Ridge Avenue, Sandusky Street and Stockton Avenue. Advance notice will be given prior to detours being put in place.
A section of Ridge Avenue and East Ohio Street at Allegheny Commons will be closed beginning April 19, 2021 until early July 2021 as part of the Allegheny Circle Phase 2 (City of Pittsburgh) project.
The detour routes are as follows:
- East Ohio Street: Cedar Avenue to East North Avenue to North Federal Street
- Ridge Avenue: Arch Street to West North Avenue to North Federal Street
For more information about the project please see the project fact sheet located here (https://pittsburghpa.gov/
CSA 2021: Sunsum is Spirit
An Interdisciplinary Exploration of West African Mythology, Tradition and Migration
By Samuel Boateng
April 29-30
Sunsum is Spirit is an immersive experience that combines original music with traditional and contemporary African dance, movement and storytelling. This surrealist performance captures a life-changing journey through pre-independence Ghana. Three travelers set out to capture a malevolent spirit, and are thrown into a whirlwind of supernatural encounters. They hear rumors of sudden disappearances and kidnappings in neighboring towns, but have no idea these are signs of a new and expanding commerce — the Atlantic slave trade.
PHLF: Lecture on Virgil Cantini’s Public Art
Thurssday, April 22
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Fee: $5
This live virtual tour will be held via Zoom Conference. Click here to purchase a ticket and RSVP.
(You will receive an e-mail with a link to Zoom at 5:00 pm on the day of the lecture. Don’t see the e-mail? Please be sure to check your spam or junk folders. Log-in 15 minutes before the lecture’s scheduled start to ensure that it begins on time.)
Virgil Cantini was an artist and sculptor best known for creating large works of public art in Pittsburgh in the middle part of the 20th Century. He aimed to make art free and accessible to all, as well as long-lasting, but the changing priorities in a dynamic city have caused many of his works to be relocated.
Holden Slattery interviewed Cantini for The Pitt News, and Cantini made such an impression on him that he chose to continue researching and writing about him more than a decade later. While working on a recently published essay about Cantini, Slattery learned much more about Cantini and the challenges to maintaining and preserving public art, as well as the advocates working to preserve it. In this lecture, Holden will share some of his findings in his more than a decade-long interest in Cantini and his work.
Letter from the President – April 2021
April is the cruelest…
Too easy
The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You’re one month on, in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
A wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you’re two months back, in the middle of March.
Robert Frost
from Two Tramps in Mud Time (1926)
The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.
Mark Twain
April is here, after March flew by. It started with some snow that stuck around for a day or so. As I write this, it’s five days later and 77 degrees Fahrenheit.
April is a month of renewal and growth. The crocuses are fading away, but the daffodils are up and the forsythia is blooming. For the gardeners among you, I note that Calvary UM Church is having its annual plant sale. They have both ornamental and vegetable plants for sale, but you must order by April 18. Delivery is in May, right around Mother’s Day (which I’m told is the magic date for safe planting). The sale flyer is being distributed in one of our e-Newsletters, courtesy of Linda Ehrlich. I believe Emmanuel Episcopal Church also has an annual plant sale, and as soon as I get details on that, I’ll spread the word like fine manure.
Speaking of which, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy just held its “What the Muck” cleanup event for Lake Elizabeth in the Allegheny Commons. As most of you know, that area has been be-fowled by the flock of geese that congregate there like politicians around your e-mail inbox in election season. Walking through the sidewalks near Lake Elizabeth is like dancing between the raindrops, but with a lot more downside. To combat this menace, the Allegheny Commons Initiative (chaired by our own Mariana Whitmer), along with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Northside Leadership Conference, and the City of Pittsburgh, is hiring a crew from the US Department of Agriculture. I’m sure we’ll get an update on the geese situation at the next AWCC membership meeting. Until then, stay vigilant and wipe your feet.
By the way, that next AWCC virtual membership meeting will be at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, April 13. It will be an exciting evening of geese stories from the PPC’s Erin Tobin, true crime reports from Zone One’s Officer Michael Burford, and general civic engagement on a scale not seen since last month. I hope to see you then. Zoom meeting details are published in this very issue of the Gazette.
One last note before I go: April is also the time of year when we take nominations for Allegheny West’s Neighbor of the Year. I’m sure you know a neighbor who has gone to great lengths to make Allegheny West a better place to live and work. I’ll be soliciting names at the membership meeting, but please don’t be shy about sending an e-mail or slipping a note through the mail slot at 806 Western Avenue.
I hope you have a wonderful April.
Bob Griewahn
President, AWCC
AWCC Informational Meeting – April 13, 2021
Via Zoom (details)
Tuesday, April 13 at 7:30 pm
- 7:30 – Gather, Say Hello, Meet New Neighbors
- 7:35 – Update: City of Pittsburgh Zone 1 Police (Officer Burford)
- 7:40 – Update: City of Pittsburgh, Mayor’s Office (Leah Friedman)
- 7:45 – Update: Councilman Wilson’s Office (Sally Stadelman/Mohammed Burny/Faith Mudd)
- 7:50 – Update: Representative Wheatley’s Office (Thomas Graham)
- 7:55 – Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (Erin Tobin)
- 8:05 – Treasurer’s Report (A Bryan)
- 8:10 – Executive Committee Reports
- President (Bob Griewahn) – Committee Actions
- Property (Fran Barbush)
- Past President (Ann Gilligan) – Mayoral Roundtable
- 8:25 – Ways & Means (John DeSantis) – Tours
- 8:30 – Film Committee (Carol Gomrick)
- 8:45 – Conclude